John Lennon
While most would assume that the direct descendants of The Beatles‘ members would be well-informed when it comes to matters related to the Fab Four, Julian Lennon has admitted he’s often left out of the loop.
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Lennon’s admission was made in a new interview with U.K. publication The Guardian, where he spoke about his photography work and his newest release, the coffee table book Life’s Fragile Moments. Alongside discussions of how new music isn’t on the cards just yet (a failed attempt to hit the late-night talk show circuit in 2024 left him “heartbroken”), Lennon also touched on what drives him professionally.
“It had always been, ‘John Lennon’s son, John Lennon’s son’, and I’m going, ‘for f’s sake’. I said, what I need to do for me, first and foremost, is to build up a body of work, a foundation that I can stand on, that nobody can take away from me,” said Lennon. “And I continue to do so. It’s not to show off, it’s just to prove to myself that I can actually do this stuff. I’m not interested in fighting other people’s opinions.”
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Elsewhere, Lennon also touched on the recent resurgence that The Beatles have seen from the wider public. In the past few years, the iconic group have been in the spotlight thanks to documentaries such as Peter Jackson’s Get Back (2021), David Tedeschi and Martin Scorsese’s Beatles ’64 (2024), and the 2024 restoration of Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s 1970 film, Let it Be.
In 2023, The Beatles also issued “Now and Then”, which earned nominations for Record of the Year and Best Rock Performance at the 2025 Grammy Awards.
According to Lennon, however, he’s often the last to know about any activity with the Fab Four’s camp.
“It’s news to me half the time. I’m not part of the inner circle – I never have been,” he admitted. “You have to realise that when Dad left, when I was between three and five (it was a bit of a process), it was just mum and me, and we had nothing to do with the Beatles or Dad. I visited him on the odd occasion but we were very much on the outside. I’m thankful that Sean and I get on like a house on fire – we’re best buddies and he tells me what he can, but things are pretty secret on the Beatles front.
“[It’s] extraordinarily strange but I’m not upset about it,” he continued. “I’d rather be excited and impressed by what they did and continue to do. As a fan, I’m just as curious as anybody else, although I do find myself going, ‘how is it possible that there’s another Beatles film?’”
Lennon recently took to social media in December to urge his followers to undergo regular doctor visits following an emergency surgery after a second skin cancer diagnosis. Just before the end of the year, on Dec. 30, Lennon updated his followers that he had received “the ‘all clear’” from his doctors.
Sean Lennon has reflected on the impact that John Lennon‘s passing had upon his mother, Yoko Ono.
On Sunday (Dec. 8), Sean and the rest of his family will mark the 44th anniversary of father John’s death in New York City in 1980. Viewed by many as another example of ‘the day the music died’, Lennon’s untimely passing has had an impact on countless individuals throughout the world. No more have felt that impact, Sean says, than his mother.
Speaking to BBC Radio 6 Music about the recent Grammy-nominated expanded box set of John’s 1973 Mind Games album, Sean touched on his parents’ relationship around the record’s creation. At the time of Mind Games’ writing, John was in the midst of the 18-month ‘lost weekend’ period in which he was separated from Ono.
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“A lot of people said like, ‘Yoko wasn’t around for this record, why are they featuring her in the booklet’ or something,” Lennon began. “And I think there’s a lot of history, there’s a lot of assumptions made about that time period because they were sort of on their way towards that famous separation that people called The Lost Weekend.
“But the truth is, even when they were apart they were always talking, so I don’t think they ever really broke up, all his stuff was still in the apartment with my mum, it’s not like they had a real separation. And on top of it, all my dad was thinking about was her.
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“You look at the album cover, it’s a collage of my mum literally the size of a mountain, and he’s this little tiny thing sort of fading into the background” he continued. “And I think it’s clear what his view of my mum was in his life. She was monumental, obviously. And the whole album is about her.”
Speaking about his mother directly, Sean claimed that she “never has moved on from that relationship” since John’s passing, but agreed that the recent Mind Games release was something of a “love letter” to his parents.
“I’ve never put it that way but I would say it’s my best effort to try to be a good son,” Sean replied.
A handwritten letter which sees John Lennon pitching a new band to Eric Clapton is going under the auctioneer’s hammer.
The eight-page letter, which is dated Sept. 29, 1971, is a draft of the final version which was sent to Clapton that same year. Helmed by International Autograph Auctions Europe SL, the missive will go to auction on Dec. 5 for an expected sale of €100,000 – €150,000 (approximately $104,000 – $157,000), with bidding registrations open now.
The contents of the letter show the beginnings of what could have been an interesting chapter in the story of rock music, with Lennon asking Clapton to form a new band.
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“You must know by now that Yoko and I rate your music and yourself very highly, always have,” the letter begins. As Lennon continues, he touches on Clapton’s then-current dark period, which was marred by heroin addiction and a retreat from public appearances.
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“Eric, I know I can bring out something great, in fact greater in you that had been so far evident in your music,” Lennon adds. “I hope to bring out the same kind of greatness in all of us, which I know will happen if/when we get together.”
The letter ultimately pitches the idea of Clapton performing as part of the prospective band, which would have included previous Plastic Ono Band members Klaus Voorman, Jim Keltner, Nicky Hopkins, and Phil Spector. “And of course we had YOU!!! in mind as soon as we decided,” it continues.
By the time of the letter’s writing, Clapton had previously performed as part of the Plastic Ono Band, appearing as part of the iterations of the group that existed between September and December 1969.
“Please don’t be frightened, I understand paranoia, only too well,” Lennon adds to the expectedly-hesitant at the close of his letter. “I think it could only do good for you to work with people who love and respect you, and that’s from all of us.”
Ultimately, Clapton would turn down Lennon’s offer of joining the nascent band of “superstars”.
The draft of the letter also includes numerous corrections and edits, though it’s unknown what the final version that was sent to Clapton looked like. This isn’t the first time the letter has gone up for sale, however, with a 2012 auction expecting the item to sell for a total of $30,000.
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